The Pens won Game 1 of the best of 7 series, 5-0 at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday. Pascal Dupuis had two goals and Marc-Andre Fleury registered a shutout.

FAST FACTS

*Tonight's game will mark the return of Sidney Crosby to the Pens' lineup. Crosby has missed 12 regular season and one playoff game with a broken jaw.*Winger James Neal was limping heavily on Thursday, missed practice and is presumed to be out for tonight's game.*Pens Center Jussi Jokinen seemed to suffer few if any effects of a knee on knee collision with the Islanders' Marty Reasoner. He is expected to play tonight.

Jokinen on the fourth line is STUPID. Why are we giving one of our leading scorers and best face off man fourth line minutes. Flanking him with Glass and Adams is a crime. JJ is a proven big game player with team Finland.

Last edited by Stick_Flex on Fri May 03, 2013 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Stick_Flex wrote:Jokinen on the fourth line is STUPID. Why are we giving one of our leading scorers and best face off man fourth line minutes. Flanking him with Glass and Adams is a crime. JJ is a proven big game player with team Finland.

Ummmmm, who would you move instead? I think it's a great move because like Game 1, there's an actual scoring threat on that 4th line and you're certainly not gonna break up any of the top 3 lines.

Stick_Flex wrote:Jokinen on the fourth line is STUPID. Why are we giving one of our leading scorers and best face off man fourth line minutes. Flanking him with Glass and Adams is a crime. JJ is a proven big game player with team Finland.

Ummmmm, who would you move instead? I think it's a great move because like Game 1, there's an actual scoring threat on that 4th line and you're certainly not gonna break up any of the top 3 lines.

I'd put Bennett on the fourth. Actually I'd move sutter down to 4th but doesn't look like a very popular opinion. I like sutter but I like the cup more.

Stick_Flex wrote:Jokinen on the fourth line is STUPID. Why are we giving one of our leading scorers and best face off man fourth line minutes. Flanking him with Glass and Adams is a crime. JJ is a proven big game player with team Finland.

HCDB moves guys around a lot during the game so if JJ is doing well he can still get ice time in other spots.

Stick_Flex wrote:Jokinen on the fourth line is STUPID. Why are we giving one of our leading scorers and best face off man fourth line minutes. Flanking him with Glass and Adams is a crime. JJ is a proven big game player with team Finland.

HCDB moves guys around a lot during the game so if JJ is doing well he can still get ice time in other spots.

Exactly....I think we'll see a bunch of different line combos based on who's "going"...

Stick_Flex wrote:Jokinen on the fourth line is STUPID. Why are we giving one of our leading scorers and best face off man fourth line minutes. Flanking him with Glass and Adams is a crime. JJ is a proven big game player with team Finland.

Sure, Jokinen is more valuable on a higher line. But so are the three centers ahead of him: Crosby, Malkin, and Sutter. There's no way they should move Crosby or Malkin to make Jokinen play a bit better. Sutter/Morrow/Cooke is their checking line to deploy against Tavares. There's only one spot left for Jokinen that makes any sense.

Note that he's on the 2nd power play unit as well... so he's getting more than just the 4th line minutes. And *knock on wood* if someone gets hurt, they'll shuffle anyway.